When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More

The sinews of old San Francisco lie in the water: the posts standing in the Bay mud that supported the docks and piers where the shipping that made the city possible, and later allowed it to flourish, flowed.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Medical marijuana does not grow on trees (pot plants are much smaller). And cannabis does not fall from the sky: In order for marijuana users to access their preferred medicine -- and in order for the will of the voters to be respected -- "patients" need to acquire cannabis from somewhere.

In California, this somewhere has become taxpaying storefronts, also known as dispensaries.

Cities' abilities to enact some sort of control over dispensaries is at legal risk: A case currently before the state Supreme Court will decide if California cities and counties can legally regulate medical marijuana, or if federal law renders all local control -- like San Francisco's Medical Cannabis Act -- invalid.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera entered this discussion on the side of local law -- or, from local cannabis advocates' perspective, on the side of the magic plant -- when he filed an amicus brief today. Invalidating the city's regulatory scheme would either ban medical marijuana facilities outright, or force a return to the wild, unregulated days, Herrera told the Supreme Court.

Here's the back story: After failing to get a a city permit via a lottery, a would-be medical marijuana dispensary operator sued the City of Long Beach, alleging that the lottery system was arbitrary and otherwise bogus.

In its ruling on the suit, Pack v. City of Long Beach, a state circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the operator, in a sense, saying all county and municipal medical marijuana regulations violate the federal Controlled Substances Act, and are therefore truly bogus and invalid. Oops.

Such a ruling was unprecedented. No court decision, at either the state or the federal level -- where medical marijuana law has been argued at the Supreme Court of the United States as recently as 2005 -- attempted to strike down state law due to a federal conflict. (It's also unclear if a court would be allowed to overturn a law like the Compassionate Use Act, which was enacted by voter initiative in 1996. If one tried, certainly it would be a field day for attorneys and legal professors.)

The state Supreme Court agreed in January to hear an appeal of the Pack decision, this time filed by cannabis advocates and, like Herrera, advocates of municipalities' abilities to regulate medical marijuana.

No official time frame for when the court will issue a decision has been released.

Herrera's brief mentions the apparent main obstacle for continued regulation -- federal law -- only briefly, referring to past Court of Appeals decisions which noted the power of states to "serve as a laboratory" for "novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." Here's where legal scholars earn their bread: Laws can be preserved as long as they do not "positively conflict with the Controlled Substances Act," Herrera writes.

A "positive conflict" is a legal situation in which two different entities claim authority. Does a federal law outlawing marijuana conflict with or override a local law permitting marijuana outlets? We'll find out.

In any case, local medical marijuana regulations are necessary if cannabis users are to acquire their medicine, and if the rest of the populace is to be satisfied, Herrera wrote.

"The impact of the Court of Appeal's decision would be to force local jurisdictions to choose between banning medical marijuana-related uses altogether and allowing those uses to exist subject to a lesser degree of regulation than other permitted uses," he wrote. And since an outright ban would seemingly invalidate Proposition 215, "medical marijuana-related uses would be subject to less regulation than most other uses" if the Pack decision stands.

About The Author

Bio:
Chris Roberts has spent most of his adult life working in San Francisco news media, which is to say he's still a teenager in Middle American years. He has covered marijuana, drug policy, and politics for SF Weekly since 2009.

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Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"